Display device

ABSTRACT

A portable display device having a base comprising running gear which includes a plurality of wheels and a pulling tongue wherein the wheels may be detachably secured to the base such that the base may be permanently affixed to a given location. A sign is reciprocally mounted on the base by means of a supporting frame such that the sign may be raised or lowered to any desired position through the operation of a lifting mechanism in the form of a power or manually operated winch connected to the sign by a pulley and cable arrangement. Lights may be arranged on both the interior and exterior of the sign and operated by a power supply, in the form of a battery or generator which also may be carried on the base of the sign.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 410,305 filed Oct. 29,1973, now abandoned. .Iaddend.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a display device including an illuminated signmovably mounted on a frame so as to move in a vertical direction andincluding a base having running gear removably attached thereto, inorder that the display device may be either portable or permanentlyattached at a given location.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In the advertising industry the use of display devices in the form ofsigns is of course extremely well known. The particular configuration orconstruction of the sign utilized in any given advertising applicationdepends upon such things as types of business, goods or services beingadvertised, locations at which the sign or display device is to belocated and the particular segment of the public to which theadvertisement is directed. Because of the many diverse ways in whichdisplay devices of this type can be used, mass production of a generallystandard type sign, which is to be effective for various applications,has been relatively unknown in the advertising industry.

Large scale production of a substantially standard display device is ofcourse highly desirable in that this type of production serves to lowerthe cost of production. Maintenance of a standard type sign would alsobe less expensive since repair or servicing of such a sign could be doneon a replacement part type basis.

In addition to the high cost of producing essentially custom-made signs,the cost involved in installing these signs often times equal or exceedsthe cost of building the sign. This is due to the fact that up to thepresent time no one single sign structure has had the versatility tosatisfy a wide variety of advertising applicatons. Accordingly, a custombuilt sign had to be produced which adapted to a particular location orbusiness to be advertised. Consequently those involved in installingprior art signs would often times be dealing with completely differentstructures with which they had no general knowledge or experience.Because of the above factors the time and expense involved in theinstallation of conventional signs is relatively great.

Because of these and other problems prevalent in the advertising andsign making industry, there has been a long felt need for a displaydevice which is versatile enough to be adapted to a number of variedadvertising situations while at the same time having a relativelysimple, low cost construction capable of being easily maintained andtransported to any given location.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed towards a portable display device ofrelatively simple and inexpensive construction having sufficientversatility to be adapted to a number of varied advertising applicationsand eliminating the problems of transportation and installationassociated with conventional prior art display devices.

More specifically, this invention comprises a base which is madeportable by virtue of a running gear assembly attached thereto andcomprising a plurality of detachable wheels. The running gear furtherincludes a towing tongue adapted to connect the base to any type ofconventional pulling vehicle. In that the wheels are detachably mountedto the base, the device may be towed to a desired location andpermanently positioned thereat by removal of all the running gear. Basesupport means are provided in the form of retractable outrigger memberswhich may extend outwardly from the front and rear cross beam members ofthe base, a sufficient space therefrom so as to anchor the device. Thissupport means additionally guards against upsetting of the device duringadverse weather conditions. While the running gear connected to the basemay be removed, it may also remain in place on the base in supportingrelation thereto if the device is intended to be positioned at a givenlocation for only a relatively short time. In this event the pullingtongue is movably attached to the base in such a manner as to bepositioned in an out-of-the-way, inoperative position. In addition, thewheels of the running gear includes locking means which prevents thewheels from rotating and, along with the outrigger members, serve tomaintain the device in any given location.

This invention comprises another embodiment including structuralmodifications of the running gear assembly, from that described above.More specifically, the present invention is intended to include thestructure wherein all of the elements of the running gear are fixedlyattached to one another and removable as a unit from the base of thesign. This particular structure lends great versatility to the presentinvention in that the basis of the display device may be constructed totemporarily fit on a trailer comprising the permanently attachedelements of the running gear. This will allow the various displaydevices to be towed to a location whereat the display device may bepermanently positioned. Once delivered at that location, the trailer ismerely detached from the base of the display device and of course may beusable to tow other display devices. In positioning or installing thistype of display device at a given location, any conventionalinstallation structure and procedure may be utilized such as embeddingthe display device in a permanent concrete or like base or installingthe display device on an already existing structure such as a buildingor the like. The trailer comprising the elements of the running gearincludes a frame-like structure as its supporting base wherein aU-shaped angle iron is located at the rear of the trailer and extendsacross its width. This angle iron has welded thereto in spaced relationto one another a plurality of L-shaped brackets. Each of these bracketsdefine a finger or hook-like extension directed towards the front of thetrailer and spaced above transverse angle iron to which they areattached to form a space in which a portion of the base of the sign ispositioned. More particularly, an angle iron is correspondinglypositioned across the width of the base such that a rearwardly extendingledge of the angle iron is arranged to fit in supported fashion of thetop surface of the transverse angle iron of the platform by extendinginto the space between the bracket and the angle iron of the platform.When the base and the platform are in assembled position this structureprohibits the trailer from moving forwardly relative to the base. Thebase and trailer are secured together by additional means comprising abracket mounted on the outrigger housing at the front portion of thebase. This bracket includes a spring loaded pin extending forwardly ofthe bracket and designed to engage an aperture formed in a platecorrespondingly mounted and positioned on the tongue of the trailer.When the base and the trailer are assembled the pin is biased forwardlyinto the aperture of the plate thereby preventing rearward movement ofthe trailer relative to the base. It should be further pointed out thatlateral movement of the trailer relative to the base is prevented by thehook-like brackets being mounted on the rear transverse channel memberof the platform in contiguous relation to the lateral support beams ofthe base.

The display device further comprises an illuminated sign which ismounted on an inverted U-shaped frame which itself is connected directlyto the base. The sign itself is movable relative to both the frame andthe base and is movably attached to the frame by means of one or morecollar members fixedly attached to the periphery of the sign andsurrounding correspondingly positioned legs of the frame. By beingmounted in this manner, the sign is designed to move in a reciprocalfashion in a substantially vertical plane defined by the frame itself.

The sign is positioned, relative to the frame, through the use of alifting means, including a winch, which may be operated either manuallyor by power through the use of an electric motor or the like. The winchmay be positioned anywhere on the base in operative relation to theframe and sign. The handling means further includes a cable and pulleyarrangement interconnecting the sign and the winch. This cable andpulley arrangement may be substantially mounted on the interior of theframe since ideally the frame is made from a tubular metallicconstruction having sufficient room on the interior of the legs of theframe to allow the positioning of such a pulley and cable arrangement.Alternatively the pulley and cable arrangement may run along theexterior of the frame and be supported from the top and legs thereof.The location of the pulley and cable arrangement is of course dependentupon location of the winch. Accordingly if the winch was located in theapproximate center of the base, beneath the sign, the cable could bedirected through the interior of the sign itself by means of a conduitor the like.

Lighting means in the form of a bank of incandescent or fluorescentlights may be arranged around the interior periphery of the sign. Theselights may be powered by any conventional electrical power source suchas a storage battery secured to the base or from any applicable sourceof electric current.

The invention accordingly comprises features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope ofthe invention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the inventionreference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front plane view of the display device showing the signthereof in a raised position relative to the frame.

FIG. 2 is a top view of FIG. 1 showing the base means and support meanstherefor.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the base means showing the running geardetached.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an end view of FIG. 4 taken along line 5--5.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is an end view of FIG. 6 taken along line 7--7.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the positioning means taken along line8--8 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is a partial sectional view taken along line 9--9 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a partial top view showing one embodiment of the towingtongue and its relation to the base.

FIG. 11 is an exploded view showing the trailer and running gearremovable as a unit from the base and its relation thereto whenassembled.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing the relation of the engagingbrackets and transverse angle beam of the platform and baserespectively.

FIG. 13 is a top sectional view of the spring loaded bracket attached tothe front of the base.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views of the drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This invention is directed to a display device generally indicated as 10in FIGS. 1 and 2. The device comprises a base at 12 which may beportable and which includes a support frame 14 having a sign 16removably mounted thereon.

The base 12 may be either portable or permanently positioned at a givenlocation by virtue of removably attachable running gear comprisingpulling tongue 18 and wheel assemblies generally indicated as 20. Whenthe display device is positioned in a desired location, the tongue 18may be arranged in an inoperative position in that it is telescopicallymounted within sleeve 22 (FIG. 3). As shown by directional arrows 24,tongue 18 may be extended or retracted into and out of operativeposition relative to base 12. Alternatively the tongue 18 may bepivotally or rotatably mounted to base 12 by means of outwardlyextending flange 26. In this embodiment, the tongue may be swung intoinoperative position, as indicated by arrows 28 about pivot point 30.When arranged in its operative position as shown in FIG. 10 its rearwardextremity is located in locking means 32 as shown. As mentioned abovethe running gear may be completely removed from the base 12 in whichcase tongue 18 is detached from sleeve 22 by removing pin 34. This pinis designed to extend through aperture 36 in sleeve 22 and through aportion of the tongue 18 so as to maintain it in extended position asshown in FIG. 2.

To add versatility to the present structure this invention includes theembodiment shown in FIGS. 11-13. In this embodiment the elements of therunning gear including tongue 18 and wheel assemblies 20 are all fixedlyattached to one another to form a single unit generally indicated at 21.This unit is removably attached to the base of the display device and isdesigned to transport this base to various locations whereat the displaydevice may be permanently affixed or installed by any conventional ordesirable installation structure or technique which is available. Thetrailer unit 21 comprises tongue 18 being fixedly attached to the undercarriage of the trailer which itself includes frame-like structurecomprising front and rear transverse support beams 23 and 25. Thetrailer frame further includes longitudinally extending side beams 27and 29. This trailer is designed to have mounted thereon the frame ofthe base of the display device which includes side beam 52 and 54 andoutrigger housing 92 and 94. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 11,standing platform 31 and 33 are also provided to extend along the lengthof the base of the display device. The display device base furtherincludes a transverse angle iron 35. This angle iron 35 is designed tocooperate with transverse angle iron 25 of the platform and morespecifically with brackets 37 and 39 welded to transverse beam 25. Itwill be noted that the upper flange 41 of bracket 39 is spaced from andextended forwardly of beam 25 to provide space in which the angle iron35 may be secured. FIG. 12 shows a sectional view of the bracket 39 whenthe trailer and base are positioned in assembled relation to oneanother. In this position the weight of the base of the display deviceis carried by angle iron 25 by means of the supporting engagementbetween lower flange 43 and angle iron 35 of the base. This assemblyfurther prohibits the forward movement of the trailer relative to thebase when the sign is being transported.

Referring to FIG. 13, a bracket generally indicated at 47 is affixed tothe front, substantially center portion of the housing 92 of the frontoutrigger of the base. This bracket includes a lever 49 designed tooperate a pin 51 which is biased by spring 45 to extend forwardly of thebracket 47 as shown in FIG. 13. An angle plate 53 (FIG. 12) is fixedlysecured to tongue 18 in corresponding relation to bracket 47 such thatpin 51 will engage aperture 55 formed in the plate 53. By thisarrangement rearward movement of the trailer relative to the base isprohibited. It should further be noted that lateral movement between thebase and trailer is prohibited in that the width of the base isdimensioned to be correspondingly positioned relative to beams 27 and 29of the base. This construction is clearly shown in FIG. 11.

Regardless of the embodiments utilized, locking shaft 38 and 40cooperate with wheel assemblies 20 to secure them in an immovableposition thereby maintaining the sign in the desired location. This isaccomplished by merely securing together handles 42 and 44 of shafts 38and 40 respectively as shown in FIG. 2 in dotted lines. The shafts aremovably connected to cross bar 46 by means of brackets 48. Each of thewheel assemblies 20 are themselves removable from the base by means ofconnecting bar 50 being removably attached to the correspondinglypositioned, longitudinally extending side beam 52 or 54. Wheel 56 isconnected to bar 50 by means of axle 58 being attached to spring means60 which in turn are connected to fixtures 62 and 64 located at each endof spring means. As shown the fixtures 62 and 64 are connected directlyto bar 50. Fender member 66 is also connected to bar 50. As stated abovesupport bar 50 may be removed from beam 52 simply by removal of thescrew and nut assembled 68 which extends through the rear end of bar 50and into beam 52 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6. The opposite end of bar 50is movably secured to beam 52 by means of a U-shaped bracket 70 (FIG.4). Bracket 70 is secured to beam 52 by a weld or other conventionalmeans in such a manner as to allow space for the correspondingly shapedbar 50 as clearly shown in FIG. 4. This arrangement allows bar 50 tomove relative to both beam 52 and bracket 70 as shown by directionalarrow 72 in FIG. 5. Accordingly, upon removal of the screw and nutassembly 68 the entire wheel assembly 20 may be detached from base 12simply by sliding support bar 50 out of engagement between beam 52 andbracket 70.

It should be noted that when the display device 10 is positioned withthe wheel assembly still attached to base 12, an additional wheeledsupport means is provided as indicated generally at 74. This auxiliarywheel support comprises a vertically arranged shaft 76, as shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, affixed to beams 78 by means of bracket 80 so as to bemovable relative to the beam 78. Wheel 82 is arranged at the lowerextremity of shaft 76 to engage the ground or other support surface onwhich the device is positioned. Crank handle 84 may be utilized toproperly position the shaft 76 relative to base 12.

Irrespective of whether or not the running gear, and in particular thewheel assembly, remains attached to the base when the device is inposition, base support means comprising a plurality of outrigger members88 are movably attached to the base by means of shafts 90. These shaftsare telescopically positioned within end beams 92 and 94. Accordingly,when arranged in inoperative position shafts 90 may be housed withintheir corresponding beams 92 and 94. FIG. 3 shows the outrigger membersin their operative position wherein shafts 90 extend outwardly from thebase a sufficient distance to maintain stability of the device duringadverse weather conditions. When in operative position support disc 96of each outrigger member is extendible to a ground engaging position byvirtue of its being connected to shaft 98 arranged within sleeve 100forming the upper portion of the outrigger member 88. Verticaladjustment of base 96 can be accomplished by the manual operation ofcrank handle 102. Each of the outrigger members 88 is capable of movingin a horizontal and vertical direction relative to base 12 in order toproperly support the display device 10 at any given location.

As stated above frame member 14 is securely attached to base 12 by meansof cross beams 104 and 105 arranged in a braced relation on the frame 14and the remaining portion of the base respectively. Frame 14 has agenerally inverted U-shaped configuration and may be formed from hollowmetallic beams or like material having sufficient strength to support asign means generally indicated at 16. The sign means is movablyconnected to frame 14 by means of a plurality of collars 108 fixedlyattached to the peripheral edges of sign 16 and arranged to surround thecorrespondingly positioned leg of frame 14 as shown in FIG. 1. By thisarrangement the sign is capable of moving in a vertical planesubstantially defined by the frame itself in a reciprocal fashion byoperation of positioning means which will be described hereinafter.Therefore, it can be seen that sign 16 can be arranged in any one ofvarious positions along the height of frame 14. This positioning featureof sign 16 greatly enhances the versatility of the subject displaydevice in that it can be located at a number of diverse locations.

The sign itself comprises a peripheral, rectangularly shaped frame 110designed to support display panels 112 on each side thereof. The signmeans 106 is arranged such that there is sufficient space on theinterior of the sign, between display panels 112 to arrange a bank 114of lights 116. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 lights 116 arerepresented as being fluorescent. However, any applicable type lightmeans could be substituted therefor. These lights may be powered fromany conventional electrical power source such as a battery generator orwhich may be located directly on or independent from the rest of thedisplay device 10. A bank of lights 107 is also mounted on the topexterior portion of the sign. These lights may be colored, flashing orarranged to form any desired configuration which will add to theattractiveness of the display device.

Sign 16 is positioned relative to frame 14 by means of positioning meansas mentioned above. This positioning means comprises a winch generallyindicated at 118 which may be operated either manually or by power suchas an electric motor or the like. The winch 118 is connected to the sign16 by means of a pulley and cable assembly including cable 120 and aplurality of pulleys 122. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8 the pulley and cablearrangement may be arranged on the interior of frame 14 such that pulley122 connects to winch 118 through aperture 124 (FIG. 8). The other endof cable 120 connects to the top of sign 16 by means of bracket 126 asshown in FIG. 1. Alternatively the cable and pulley arrangement may bearranged on the exterior of frame 14 (FIG. 11). In this embodiment,cable 120 extends up through the interior of the sign to pulley 122mounted within sign frame 10.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line 9--9 of FIG. 8 and shows ameans for attaching the legs of frame 14 to the base. This meanscomprises bolt and nut assembly 130 extending through the leg of frame14 and through a cross beam 78 on the base.

It will thus be seen that the objects made apparent from the precedingdescription, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may bemade in the above construction without departing from the scope of theinvention, it is intended that all matter contained in the abovedescription or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpretedas illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

Now that the invention has been described, what is claimed is: .[.
 1. Adisplay device comprising: a base, a running assembly removably attachedto said base, such that said display device may be portable orpermanently installed on a predetermined location, a support framemounted on said base, sign means movably mounted on said frame,positioning means connected to said sign means so as to selectivelyposition it relative to said base, whereby said sign means may be raisedor lowered on said frame relative to said base by activation of saidpositioning means..]. .[.2. A display device as in claim 1 wherein saidrunning assembly further comprises wheel means on which said device istransported, pulling means arranged on said base so as to interconnectsaid device to a towing vehicle..]. .[.3. A display device as in claim 2further comprising wheel connecting means including a bar connected tosaid wheel means and removably connected to said base, bracket meansfixedly attached to said base and arranged to attach a portion of eachof said bars to said base..]. .[.4. A display device as in claim 3wherein said bracket is arranged relative to said base such that saidbar is positionable in supported fashion between said bracket and saiddevice..]. .[.5. A display device as in claim 2 wherein said pullingmeans comprises a tongue movably mounted on said base such that it maybe positioned in either an operative or inoperative position..]. .[.6. Adisplay device as in claim 5 wherein said tongue is telescopicallyarranged relative to a portion of said base whereby it may beselectively arranged in and out of operative position..]. .[.7. Adisplay device as in claim 5 wherein said tongue is pivotally attachedto said base such that it may be pivoted into an extended operativeposition or non-extended, inoperative position..]. .[.8. A displaydevice as in claim 5 wherein said movably mounted tongue is removablyattached to said base whereby said tongue is attached when permanentlypositioned at a desired location..]. .[.9. A display device as in claim1 further including base support means movably connected to said basesuch that said base support means may be moved into and out of operativeposition, whereby proper orientation of said device is maintained whenarranged in a desired position..]. .[.10. A display device as in claim 9wherein said base support means comprises a plurality of outriggerassembly each of which are telescopically and rotationally connected tosaid base and arranged in spaced relation to one another..]. .[.11. Adisplay device as in claim 10 wherein each of said outrigger assembliescomprise first and second portions movably connected to one another suchthat said portions can be extended or retracted into and out ofoperative supporting relation to one another..]. .[.12. A display deviceas in claim 1 further including guide means arranged relative to saidsign means to interconnect said sign means and said frame such that saidsign means is guided to move in a reciprocal fashion relative to saidframe..]. .[.13. A display device as in claim 12 wherein said guidemeans comprise at least one collar fixedly attached to each side of saidsign means and arranged to movably interconnect said sign means to saidframe, such that said sign means is capable of moving in a reciprocalfashion relative to said frame and in a plane substantially common tosaid frame..]. .[.14. A display device as in claim 1 wherein said liftmeans comprises a winch, a cable means interconnecting said winch andsaid sign means, at least one pulley means positioned on said devicebetween said winch and said sign means in cooperative working engagementwith said cable..]. .[.15. A display device as in claim 14 furthercomprising power means including an electric motor to operate saidwinch..]. .[.16. A display device as in claim 14 wherein said cablemeans and said one pulley is positioned on an interior portion of saidframe..].
 17. A display device as in claim 1 further comprising lightmeans mounted on said device so as to illuminate said side means..]..[.18. A display device as in claim 17 further comprising said lightmeans arranged on said interior of said sign means..]. .Iadd.
 19. Adisplay device comprising: a base including an elongated frame assemblydisposed in a horizontal plane, a running assembly of approximatelycomplementary size and shape attached to said base, said runningassembly including at least two ground-engaging wheels mounted onopposite sides of the running assembly for rotation about a commonhorizontal axis extending transversely to said running assembly, asupport frame configured to define a planar disposition arrangedtransverse to said common axis and perpendicular to said base saidsupport frame being mounted on said base and extending alongsubstantially the entire length of said base and upwardly therefrom,sign means movably mounted on said support frame, said support framedisposed in at least partially surrounding relation to the outerperiphery of said sign means, said sign means movably connected to movevertically in the single plane defined by said support frame along theentire length of travel of said sign means, said sign means including acontinuous peripheral portion surrounding an opening, two spaced-apartpanels for carrying indicia extending across said opening and supportedby said peripheral portion and electric illuminating means disposedbetween said panels, positioning means connected to said sign means forselectively raising and lowering the latter relative to said supportframe and said base, and stabilizing means carried by said base forstabilizing said base, frame and sign against tipping, said stabilizingmeans including ground-engageable foot members carried by said base andmeans for adjusting the position of the foot members inwardly andoutwardly with respect to the plane of said sign. .Iaddend.